Steelers News

Steelers Now NFL Notebook, July 8

Published

2 years ago

July 8, 2022

The Steelers Now Notebook is your go-to source for all the latest news and notes surrounding the Pittsburgh Steelers and NFL.

🏈 3 p.m: Leading up to training camp, Kenny Pickett’s personal quarterback coach, Tony Racioppi, has been posting clips of his workouts on Twitter. And on Thursday, Racioppi revealed that Pat Freiermuth has been working out with Pickett in New Jersey. The chemistry being built now between the Pitt and Penn State product should be beneficial once they get to Saint Vincent College later this month.

Below is the clip of Pickett completing a pass to Freiermuth on a “dover” route.

Pittsburgh Steelers QB Kenny Pickett working Gun 3 play low then reset with shoulder tilt to Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth running Dover Route catching Depth/Angle/Speed to judge tempo/trajectory. @TEST_Football @kennypickett10 @pat_fry5 @steelers #steelers #nfl pic.twitter.com/0GMbXrqNtB

— Tony Racioppi (@Tonyrazz03) July 7, 2022

Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth (88) participates in the Organized Team Activities (OTAs), Tuesday June 1, 2021 at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. (Caitlyn Epes / Pittsburgh Steelers)

🏈 Noon: On this date, July 8, 1933, the Pittsburgh Steelers were officially founded as an NFL franchise.

In a league meeting in Chicago, founder Art Rooney Sr. was granted a franchise, along with groups from Cincinnati and Philadelphia, for the 1933 season. With the withdrawal of the Staten Island team, that made the NFL a 10-team league for 1933. The two Pennsylvania squads were brought on with the expected repeal of the state’s blue laws that prohibited Sunday games. That happened in the middle of the teams’ first season.

The Steelers were represented at the league meetings by Rooney and Forrest “Jap” Douds, a Rochester native and Washington & Jefferson alum who became the team’s first coach in addition to playing tackle.

The Steelers were far from an instant success. They lost their first game to the New York Giants, 23-2 and finished the 1933 season with a 3-6-2 record.

🏈 10 a.m: Happy 70th birthday to Pittsburgh Steelers legend and Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Jack Lambert, born on July 8, 1952, in Mantua, Ohio.

Lambert was taken by Pittsburgh in the second round of the 1974 NFL Draft out of Kent State and became one of the most feared members of one of the NFL’s all-time greatest defenses. He won four Super Bowls in Pittsburgh, was the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1974, the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1976, an eight-time All-Pro and a nine-time Pro Bowler.